Phantom of the Library

by Lidiya Foxglove

  Marisa nodded. “After the worlds parted, and wizards began to keep libraries. These stones were not like books you would share, but kept in private as a marker of a spell cast.”

  “So were they found in archaeological digs and things like that?” Helena asked.

  “Some of them, I imagine. Or in the storerooms of crumbling old castles and so on. I think they’re sorted based on where they were found, because these tags are marked with longitude and latitude.”

  “This is so awesome,” she breathed.

  We glanced at each other. “For a woman who renovates old houses, you have more of the soul of a preservationist, don’t you?”

  “To my financial detriment, yes,” she said. “I love this sort of thing.”

  I started checking the writing on the tablets. I saw indications that some of the spells were very powerful. Did we dare to steal any of them? I was certainly tempted. I skimmed until I saw the word for “Covenant” and I took the tablet from its nook.

  I blew off the dust. “The Covenant of the House of Songwing,” I read. “‘It is now known that the House of Songwing doth swear fealty to the wizard race, to serve them well and dwell in the realm of Etherium.’ This is it.” I looked at Marisa. “So…you don’t know anything about all this?”

  “Er…no…I never paid the little humans much attention. They were far beneath us. And I don’t remember much of anything that happened a thousand years ago besides losing you, my love.”

  “You didn’t pay attention even after they killed your own brother?” Helena asked, with a hint of what’s-your-deal? “You should’ve kicked them right out of Etherium.”

  “I don’t have that sort of power!” Marisa shrugged. “That was all the more reason to ignore them. Ethereals simply do not like to give much attention to humans. It just empowers them to make more trouble. They seem to learn enough on their own.”

  I gave Helena a glance of sympathy. Marisa was only my half-sister and she shared the traits of Ethereals to consider herself above everything else. Being part demon and faery, I was very different. Demons were more prone to the same turbulent emotions as humans. Faery blood split the difference, cold one moment and playful the next.

  “So the familiars were all originally from houses? Each covenant would have to be renewed separately. I guess that explains why the wizards couldn’t bind all the familiars at once,” Helena said. “It’s interesting that it specifies Etherium. Sinistral wizards have familiars too, but…”

  “All wizards begin as Ethereals, don’t they?” I asked. “So the covenant begins at birth and when the wizard and familiar are banished to Sinistral together, the bond isn’t broken. It was already too strong at that point, perhaps…but if a familiar is able to move into a separate world from their wizard, they are able to break the bond.”

  “It all comes back to Etherium being a gated community,” Helena said. “The wall kept Sinistrals out and familiars in.”

  A door opened somewhere in the distance of the room. Helena made a choked gasp and I pulled her and Marisa back. Libraries were not the best places to hide. All the shelves had open gaps.

  “Cloak,” Marisa whispered.

  Two warlocks made their way to the wall of stone slabs. One was yawning and making morning conversation.

  “We don’t have time to waste,” Piers said crisply, revealing himself as the second man.

  “Next on the list is the House of Burrows,” said the other wizard, an older man with a British accent. “But so many animals burrow that we are simply not sure what animal’s blood is needed to bind the class.”

  “So that’s why that case looks so heavy this morning,” Piers said. “For being the so-called brightest minds in warlock-dom here at the library, there has to be a way to do this faster.”

  “There are thousand-year-old spells,” the British warlock said. “Frankly, it is a small miracle that we identified any way to recapture the familiars as quickly as this, especially since the Great Diviner refused to help us. We are quite proud of our work here. I certainly wish I knew of any way to help you move faster.”

  “Well, Albert, I just think that if my job was to manage the archives, I would know what was in the archives,” Piers said, and I could just feel the irritation from the librarian I felt for him. Patrons often expected the librarians and archivists at the Sinistral library to know everything, even as we held a collection full of some of the greatest mysteries of the realm.

  “I have brought the blood of a rabbit. A badger… A turtle, even…” Glass bottles were put on a table with solid thunking noises.

  We listened as Albert cast a finding spell to locate the proper slab. The stones were slow to release their secrets to the warlocks. I could have found what they wanted by sight faster, but he didn’t actually know Cyprium, it seemed. Once he found the stone, they moved on to untangling the covenant so it could be resealed.

  Our bodies cramped as we didn’t dare move. Helena was clutching my arm. Piers whispered spell words, and then his voice grew louder as he demanded the covenants hold against the walls.

  In wizard’s French, he said, “By the Blood of the House of Burrows, and the pact that was made, I command thy servants to maintain their vow even against the forces that seek to tear you from your masters!”

  A light flashed through the room.

  “The rabbit worked, did it?” Albert said.

  “Yes,” Piers said, sounding tired but gleeful. “Give me another.”

  “You’re already looking quite spent, sir.”

  “It isn’t up to you to decide when I’m spent. I must bind as many as I can. We only have so much time.”

  “Seems to me you could let one of the other council warlocks do it for a spell, or any warlock of skill, really…”

  “Not all of them can be trusted,” Piers said. “Nor can this subtle work be done by just anyone. I swore you to secrecy for a reason. My own uncle and his wife have been rumbling at the council to just let our familiars abandon us.”

  “The Lady Hapsburg?” Albert said.

  “Exactly.”

  “I hardly believe it.”

  “Well, she has a righteous streak. Holier than thou.”

  “Mm-hm. Naturally.”

  “So as soon as she heard that Chester ran away from me, she took his side. Assumed I was abusing him. Of course, she doesn’t even need her familiar. She still has all the royal power.”

  “My mother,” Helena breathed.

  “She’s had a grudge against me because I tried to stop her own son from opening Wyrd,” Piers continued, full of grievance. “She acts like an ally of the council but really, she has radical tendencies, and you see it in my cousins as well.”

  “That’s a shame,” Albert said. “I did find the bat, or so I hope. ‘The House of Soundhunter.’ I think that would be a bat, wouldn’t you?”

  “Ahh, yes. Find me that covenant right away. I want to try something.”

  “What is he planning?” Helena whispered tensely.

  “Nothing good,” Marisa said. “Your cousin has a disturbing aura.”

  “I know…”

  “We can stop him,” I said.

  “You think? It’s just the two of them…,” Helena said. “But I have to assume he has backup guards ready to call in.”

  “I saw what looks like a holy guard spell on that wall,” I said. “If you can distract him just long enough for me to get it, Marisa can protect you. Then I’ll cast the holy guard and we’ll take Bevan’s covenant.”

  “You saw a spell? In all of that? Are you sure it will work?”

  “A protection spell set in stone is meant to last forever,” I said. “But only for someone who can understand the words. Piers can’t. I can.”

  “The librarian seems to know a thing or two,” Helena said.

  “He doesn’t know half of what I know,” I bragged freely.

  “Okay. I’m willing to make a move. A double dose of protection should be enough for us to get the covena
nt and…”

  “I’ll get you out of here as soon as you signal for me to do so,” Marisa said.

  “Librarian versus librarian,” I said. “I think I’m going to enjoy this.”

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Helena

  As I ran out from behind the stacks to attack my cousin, I felt no fear at all. I just knew I was mad as hell at him. While I was just trying to mind my own business and find my way in the world, he sneered at me. Now that I was messing with his carefully balanced world, he considered me to have ‘radical tendencies’. Well, maybe I did. Just like my brother.

  “Put it down, Piers!” I shouted, as we took him by surprise.

  “Helena! How did you get in here?”

  “I have lent my aid to your cousin,” Marisa said.

  “An Ethereal!” Albert said, pushing up his glasses like he wasn’t sure his prescription was working anymore. Other than the glasses, he was not quite the rumpled English scholar I was expecting, but more of a strong, steely-eyed type. “Good lord…”

  “Helena is under my protection,” Marisa said. “Give her the covenant.”

  “It doesn’t matter anymore,” Piers said. “The walls are down. Even if I cast wicked magic, I won’t be banished from Etherium now. That’s all you’ve accomplished, Helena. Giving me permission to cast all the dark spells that have ever tempted me…”

  “Relinquish!” I commanded, but he fired back at the same time,

  “I bind you to me, covenant of Soundhunter…”

  His magic was stronger than mine, and he kept his hold on the tablet. Now he went on the offensive, hitting me with a barrage of spells to bind and trap me, but Marisa blocked them.

  Byron locked on the tablet he wanted as Albert went to stop him.

  “Finders, keepers, you shall not touch,” he said, casting a spell on the collection so Byron was zapped when he tried to touch any of the stones.

  Byron manifested the Way of Paths to his hand and moved one of the lights. He blocked the librarian from Etherium and broke the spell, then the Way of Paths vanished again and the stone was in his hand.

  “Ta strengest baer, nae rode en waer…” He began to read the lilting old language while Marisa held her ground. She was making a slight sound of strain but showed no sign of actually breaking. Byron’s low voice had a melodic quality that was so beautiful speaking Cyprium and reminded me of my brief moment in Lord Abiron’s arms before he died.

  Piers looked exhausted but his eyes blazed with determination.

  “Bevan of the House of Soundhunter, familiar of Helena von Hapsburg Nicolescu, I demand you come to me.”

  If there was any hope that this was not Bevan’s covenant, it died as he flashed into existence at Piers’ feet, already on his knees, hands hitting the floor. He looked around, confused.

  “Helen—”

  “Silence,” Piers commanded.

  “Relinquish!” I tried again, hoping to catch him off guard.

  “Never, Helena,” he spat. “I will die of exhaustion before I bend to you.”

  “Just don’t hurt Bevan,” I said. “It’s his covenant; I just want it back.”

  “You want a lot more than that,” Piers said. “You made it out like you were nearly leaving the magical world; like you wanted some commoner job. Did your mother put you up to this all along?”

  I snorted. “My mother? Yeah, right! I’m a total disappointment to her. She didn’t want anything to do with this! She only turned around when she found out Chester was dying to get away from you!”

  “She sides with you now,” Piers said. “Do you really not know? But of course she does. She sees that the power has shifted and she’s a conniving bitch, just like you and Harris.”

  “I’m the opposite of conniving,” I said. “I make impulsive decisions. I follow my gut even when my brain says I shouldn’t. And I don’t want power. I really don’t. I would like a little more money, maybe…but I live in a truck. Piers. If I wanted power, do you think I’d be turning twenty-seven and living in a pickup truck!? Or a sleeping bag on the floor of my latest project?”

  “I think you’re waking up to your potential,” Piers said. “And I’m afraid I might just have to get rid of you before it goes too far—as I should have gotten rid of your brother! Briser!”

  His destructive spell roiled the entire room as it barreled toward me, as Byron activated the ancient holy guard and resoundingly blocked it.

  Just in time.

  Maybe Marisa could have fought it off anyway, but I think that one might have hurt. Piers was getting genuinely angry, and darker magic was coming to him more easily. I wasn’t sure Byron had done much good trying to block him from using Ethereal magic.

  Piers was only a breath away from chaos.

  Piers was family. But he scared me. He was always an angry kid. I had a few dim memories of some of the other kids at big gatherings teasing him and Chester. Chester was so little and cute, while Piers was a scrawny kid. He didn’t used to fight back much then. In his late teenage years, he started to change, earning the praise of his teachers and all the adults for his incredibly skilled and controlled spellwork. But no one liked Piers, and no wonder. He was arrogant and both awkward and sexist to girls, like Harris without any of the better qualities like a sense of humor or loyalty to friends.

  “I’ve got you, angel,” Byron said. “I know you have it in you.”

  I switched tactics to more of a psychological spell, trying to enchant him into defeat. “Piers, I know you always hated us. You were jealous, weren’t you? It must have really eaten you that Harris found a family while you got jilted by your fiancee. There was one person who was always there for you, right? Chester. But you pushed him away again and again. You probably didn’t believe anyone could really enjoy your company. I bet your position on the council feels pretty hollow, doesn’t it? You still have a chance to turn it all around. You know what you’re doing is wrong and it’s only going to hurt you to force familiars to stay with their wizards.”

  “Are you going to let her say all that to you, mate?” Albert said.

  “Hell no,” Piers said. “If you want me to be a Sinistral warlock, I’ll show you a Sinistral warlock.”

  “Relinquish the covenant!” I cried. I was giving it everything I had in my soul, but I just couldn’t match his power. Demoralizing him didn’t work. Sheer force didn’t work.

  Damnit…

  I pressed the tip of my wand to my palm. My Hapsburg blood…

  I was so fucking scared. I didn’t want to die. I didn’t want to hurt Bevan either. But the fate of all the familiars was in my hands. I never asked to be in the center of all of this, but of course I was. My blood led me here.

  The hesitation cost me dearly. The archivist pulled out a different spell written in stone and Piers read the words. It wasn’t Cyprium. It was the dark magical tongue. Piers shouldn’t even have known that.

  “T’haht ger…olum…Bara ir dararan!” He spat the words, gritting his teeth, and a huge demon tore into existence from Sinistral. Standing eight feet tall or perhaps more, he even towered over Byron. He was a creature with black horns and sleek gray skin and bright red eyes, dripping with masculine force and a certain charm that many demons possessed, including my demons…but it was much more of a terrifying charm, one that would suck us all in and consume us.

  “What petty place have I been summoned to?” the demon snorted, waving a hand and knocking over an entire bookshelf just to show off.

  Byron growled.

  “I summoned you,” Piers said, and he was too cold to show any fear even though the demon seemed quite unhappy to be here. “Lord Variel, the Devourer.”

  “That is my name, though hearing it on your lips does it no favors.”

  “I have a gift for you on behalf of the Ethereal warlocks. The covenant of the House of Soundhunter.” He held out the stone and forced my hand.

  “No!” I screamed as the demon took Bevan’s covenant in his two massive hands. �
�By the blood of the House of Hapsburg, I declare the end of all of these covenants! Every covenant! As I spill my blood—so shall—”

  Lord Variel had opened his mouth to reveal his sharp teeth and he bit off a chunk of the stone and ate it. Like it was a piece of gingerbread or something.

  Bevan let out a silent scream, crumpling on the floor like he was being devoured himself.

  Marisa tried to strike him with a spell and it barely seemed to bother him. She hissed. “A demon lord…”

  “So shall…the covenants break!” I gasped desperately, unleashing the spell.

  It was all happening at once. Bevan’s life in the hands of a demon. My spell of sacrifice searing through my body.

  “My Hapsburg blood…,” I begged. “I don’t want what it represents. I don’t want to be a queen, a princess, a baroness, or even a witch with a power I never earned. I just want to be me. Helena…so take it. Please take it. It’s time for all of this to end. We don’t live in the world of kings and queens anymore, and I want the familiars to choose their masters now, including if their masters are just their own selves…take it!”

  Pain seared through me. I coughed up a mouthful of blood. And then another.

  I could feel all the strength draining out of me. I could hear Bevan gasping, trying to scream, fighting the spell and losing. Or maybe he was dying with me. Yes. Maybe I was bringing him a more merciful end.

  As I grew cold and numb and darkness filled my eyes, I still felt Byron’s hand on my shoulder, and at least I knew I would not die alone. I wondered if I would die before I ever knew whether the spell worked. Talk about unfinished business.

  Maybe I would be Byron’s ghost lover instead of the other way around…

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Graham

  Their bed was empty. They weren’t eating breakfast with the Sullivans.

  I didn’t say anything until I found the note taped to the bathroom mirror.

  I had to leave to save Bevan and all the familiars. Byron is with me. I don’t want the rest of you to get hurt. I’m sure you’ll be mad about it, but try not to do anything stupid. If something does happen to me…I love all of you so much. I don’t want to dwell on it. I haven’t even expressed all my feelings yet, but they’re there. —Helena